Mesozoic transtensional basin history of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombian Andes: Inferences from tectonic models

Backstripping analysis and forward modeling of 162 stratigraphic columns and wells of the Eastern Cordillera (EC), Llanos, and Magdalena Valley shows the Mesozoic Colombian Basin is marked by five lithosphere stretching pulses. Three stretching events are suggested during the Triassic–Jurassic, but additional biostratigraphical data are needed to identify them precisely. The spatial distribution of lithosphere stretching values suggests that small, narrow (<150 km), asymmetric graben basins were located on opposite sides of the paleo-Magdalena–La Salina fault system, which probably was active as a master transtensional or strike-slip fault system. Paleomagnetic data suggesting a significant (at least 10°) northward translation of terranes west of the Bucaramanga fault during the Early Jurassic, and the similarity between the early Mesozoic stratigraphy and tectonic setting of the Payandé terrane with the Late Permian transtensional rift of the Eastern Cordillera of Peru and Bolivia indicate that the areas were adjacent in early Mesozoic times. New geochronological, petrological, stratigraphic, and structural research is necessary to test this hypothesis, including additional paleomagnetic investigations to determine the paleolatitudinal position of the Central Cordillera and adjacent tectonic terranes during the Triassic–Jurassic. Two stretching events are suggested for the Cretaceous: Berriasian–Hauterivian (144–127 Ma) and Aptian–Albian (121–102 Ma). During the Early Cretaceous, marine facies accumulated on an extensional basin system. Shallow-marine sedimentation ended at the end of the Cretaceous due to the accretion of oceanic terranes of the Western Cordillera. In Berriasian–Hauterivian subsidence curves, isopach maps and paleomagnetic data imply a (>180 km) wide, asymmetrical, transtensional half-rift basin existed, divided by the Santander Floresta horst or high. The location of small mafic intrusions coincides with areas of thin crust (crustal stretching factors >1.4) and maximum stretching of the subcrustal lithosphere. During the Aptian–early Albian, the basin extended toward the south in the Upper Magdalena Valley. Differences between crustal and subcrustal stretching values suggest some lowermost crustal decoupling between the crust and subcrustal lithosphere or that increased thermal thinning affected the mantle lithosphere. Late Cretaceous subsidence was mainly driven by lithospheric cooling, water loading, and horizontal compressional stresses generated by collision of oceanic terranes in western Colombia. Triassic transtensional basins were narrow and increased in width during the Triassic and Jurassic. Cretaceous transtensional basins were wider than Triassic–Jurassic basins. During the Mesozoic, the strike-slip component gradually decreased at the expense of the increase of the extensional component, as suggested by paleomagnetic data and lithosphere stretching values. During the Berriasian–Hauterivian, the eastern side of the extensional basin may have developed by reactivation of an older Paleozoic rift system associated with the Guaicáramo fault system. The western side probably developed through reactivation of an earlier normal fault system developed during Triassic–Jurassic transtension. Alternatively, the eastern and western margins of the graben may have developed along older strike-slip faults, which were the boundaries of the accretion of terranes west of the Guaicáramo fault during the Late Triassic and Jurassic. The increasing width of the graben system likely was the result of progressive tensional reactivation of preexisting upper crustal weakness zones. Lateral changes in Mesozoic sediment thickness suggest the reverse or thrust faults that now define the eastern and western borders of the EC were originally normal faults with a strike-slip component that inverted during the Cenozoic Andean orogeny. Thus, the Guaicáramo, La Salina, Bitúima, Magdalena, and Boyacá originally were transtensional faults. Their oblique orientation relative to the Mesozoic magmatic arc of the Central Cordillera may be the result of oblique slip extension during the Cretaceous or inherited from the pre-Mesozoic structural grains. However, not all Mesozoic transtensional faults were inverted.     

Intraplate deformation and 3D rheological structure of the Rhine Rift System and adjacent areas of the northern Alpine foreland

The lithosphere of the Northern Alpine foreland has undergone a polyphase evolution during which interacting stress-induced intraplate deformation and upper mantle thermal perturbations controlled folding of the thermally weakened lithosphere. In this paper we address relationships among deeper lithospheric processes, neotectonics and surface processes in the Northern Alpine foreland with special emphasis on tectonically induced topography. We focus on lithosphere memory and neotectonics, paying special attention to the thermo-mechanical structure of the Rhine Graben System and adjacent areas of the northern Alpine foreland lithosphere. We discuss implications for mechanisms of large-scale intraplate deformation and links with surface processes and topography evolution.     

Crustal structure of the Alpine–Pannonian transition zone: a combined seismic and gravity study

 The crustal structure of the transition zone between the Eastern Alps and the western part of the Pannonian depression (Danube basin) is traditionally interpreted in terms of subvertical Tertiary strike-slip and normal faults separating different Alpine tectonic units. Reevaluation of approximately 4000-km-long hydrocarbon exploration reflection seismic sections and a few deep seismic profiles, together with data from approximately 300 wells, suggests a different structural model. It implies that extensional collapse of the Alpine orogene in the Middle Miocene was controlled by listric normal faults, which usually crosscut Alpine nappes at shallow levels, but at depth merge with overthrust planes separating the different Alpine units. The alternative structural model was tested along a transect across the Danube basin by gravity model calculations, and the results show that the model of low-angle extensional faulting is indeed viable. Regarding the whole lithosphere of the western Pannonian basin, gravity modelling indicates a remarkable asymmetry in the thickness minima of the attenuated crust and upper mantle. The approximately 160 km lateral offset between the two minima suggests that during the Miocene extension of the Pannonian basin detachment of the upper crust from the mantle lithosphere took place along a rheologically weak lower crust. Received: 13 July 1998 / Accepted: 18 March 1999     

Finite-element modelling of Tertiary paleostress fields in the eastern part of the Tajo Basin (central Spain)

Three subsequent Tertiary paleostress fields that are deduced from fault-slip data for the eastern part of the Tajo Basin are analyzed by finite-element studies. The modelling results show that maximum horizontal stresses (S_Hmax) are mainly controlled by the geometry of the model limits and the boundary conditions applied. The models are used to test two hypotheses on the origin of the Altomira Range. A local stress field responsible for its formation (‘Altomira') can be modelled successfully by superposition in time and place of two major paleostress fields (‘Iberian' and ‘Guadarrama'). Stress trajectories have been modelled with respect to a homogeneous cover and heterogeneous basement to investigate the role of rheological contrasts between different basement blocks on the orientation of the stress field. Results of this kind of modelling suggest a mechanical decoupling between the cover and the basement, especially for the ‘Altomira' paleostress field.     

Temporal and spatial variations in tectonic subsidence in the Iberian Basin (eastern Spain): inferences from automated forward modelling of high-resolution stratigraphy (Permian–Mesozoic)

By subsidence analysis on eighteen surface sections and 6 wells, which cover large part of the Iberian Basin (E Spain) and which are marked by high-resolution stratigraphy of the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, we quantify the complex Permian and Mesozoic tectonic subsidence history of the basin. Backstripping analysis of the available high resolution and high surface density of the database allows to quantify spatial and temporal patterns of tectonically driven subsidence to a much higher degree than previous studies. The sections and wells have also been forward modelled with a new ‘automated' modelling technique, with unlimited number of stretching phases, in order to quantify variations in timing and magnitude of rifting. It is demonstrated that the tectonic subsidence history in the Iberian Basin is characterized by pulsating periods of stretching intermitted by periods of relative tectonic quiescence and thermal subsidence. The number of stretching phases appears to be much larger than found by earlier studies, showing a close match with stretching phases found in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula and allowing a clear correlation with discrete phases in the opening of the Tethys and Atlantic.